Sri Lanka hires hangmen to carry out first executions in four decades
Sri Lanka has hired two hangmen, as it prepares to carry out its first executions in more than 40 years.
More than 100 people applied for the positions, which called for executioners with "strong moral character", BBC News reported. They included two women and two Americans.
Four people convicted of drug offences face the death penalty in a bid by the Government to crack down on the drug trade.
"They have not been told yet," President Maithripala Sirisena said. "We don't want to announce the names yet because that could lead to unrest in prisons."
Training for the job takes about two weeks, a spokesman told local media.
The last hangman quit five years ago after going into shock when he saw the gallows, despite his training.
Excluding members of designated terrorist groups, more than 400 people sit on Sri Lanka's death row, BBC News reported in 2014 - despite no executions since 1976.
Newshub.
